How to Pronounce “Lerangis”: Peter’s Handy Guide

I travel a lot to schools, bookstores, conventions, and small mossy granite caves, and the first question I’m asked is How do you pronounce your last name? Here’s the answer:

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ Lir-ANN-jiss. Soft G. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

That’s Lir as in sir. Annas in answer. Jissas in jiss’ say it!

Now, this is not an easy last name to master. In fact, it’s the only one of its kind in the world. People get it wrong a lot. My family has received mail addressed to names from 480464Li to 287255Lescoufflair. By now all the Lerangii (which is the approved plural) have gotten used to this. Let’s face it, Lerangis has no easy mental associations, like Miller or Goldsmith. It doesn’t come trippingly off the tongue like, say, R. L. Stine or Marc Brown or Ann Martin. So if you say Lir-RANGE-iss (like “437640deranged”), Lir-ON-jiss (like “347443ON/off”), Lir-ANG-uss (rhymes with “640466angus”) or Lir-ANN-jeez (rhymes with “400300the river Ganges”) — or even if you say 600399Lear– instead of Lir-, that’s OK. Wrong, but OK.

If you say, however, Legrangis or Legaris or Lorangutan or Lorenzo or DeAngelis or Schultz or Bruce Coville, then I may burst into bitter tears.

For you language mavens, Lerangis is actually kind of a made-up name. My original Greek name is even harder to pronounce and perhaps rather frightening to see: Παναγιώτης Λυραντζής.

This is pronounced Panagiotis Lyrantzis (approximately). What does it mean? Depends on how you spell it. Lyrantzis means “500375one who plays the lyre.” Lirantzis would be “300460one who plays with lira (or banker).” Of course, it could just mean “640463one who is a liar.” Which, come to think of it, would be perfectly suited to a fiction writer. Personally, I love my Greek name. I grew up with it. It’s what my grandparents and 640362Greek School teacher used to call me. But you don’t have to. Really.

PL by Any Other Name

I haven’t always used my own name as a byline. When I was getting started, sometimes I wrote books under pen names. Here are a few of them. Each has a hidden (or not-so-hidden) meaning. Click on each name for the answer.

Little known fact: when writing three books in the Hardy Boys/ Nancy Drew Supermysteries series, I did a stint as “Carolyn Keene,” a pen name first used by the legendary Harriet Stratemeyer Adams when she originated Nancy Drew.

The editor’s request: Write two tie-ins for the same movie, but use two different bylines — and only one can be A. L. Singer. “George Spelvin” to the rescue! This name is used in theatrical plays, when an actor does not want his real name known. Usually this is because he is playing two roles in the same play (one in disguise). Trivia note: In England, the name “Harry Plinge” is used for the same purpose.